Dreamstrider

by OkemosBrony

Chapter 29

Just as I sit down at my desk, fresh cup of tea beside me, ready to look over Moonlight’s report of all the Dreamstriding he did this past summer, somepony starts knocking at my door. Who could it be? Luna’s busy today, Moonlight’s still in Baltimare, and there isn’t a meeting of the castle department heads, so I’m not missing any meetings or anything. Whoever’s there knocks again, so I guess I have to just go get up and answer them. When I open the door, I see an earth pony guard standing there. I don’t think he expected me to be as young as I am, because he was looking up at where an adult’s eyes would be and not down to me.

“Aurora Borealis?” he asks with a lot of confusion after looking down and meeting my eyes.

“Yeah,” I reply. “What is it?”

“Princess Luna requested that I relay a message to you,” he says, clearly taking pride in the fact that Luna asked him specifically to do something. Based on the fact that he didn’t know how old I was and that he still thinks talking to the Princesses is some big occasion, he must be new here.

“What does she need?”

“She said to inform you that your family has arrived, and that they are in the Princess Doçura Reception Room.” He just stands there for a moment, then quickly bows. “Ma’am.”

“You can go back to whatever you were doing before she sent you here,” I tell him, hoping he’ll leave because this is getting a little awkward. “I know where the room is, I can make it there fine on my own.”

“Yes ma’am,” he bows again before quickly leaving the Dreamstrider wing. Don’t think I’ve ever been called ‘ma’am’ before, to be honest. It’s weird, especially coming from a pony much older than me.

I nearly exit the wing, but as I get to the front door and swing it open with my magic, I remember my tea. Shouldn’t go to waste, right? A quick trip back to my room and I’m carrying it with me, taking a few tiny sips along the way because it’s still very hot.

I forgot they were coming today, to be honest. She told me before I came back here from Coltlumbus, but I just got back into the schedule of being here and Dreamstriding that I already forgot.

Once I’m almost to Luna’s private wing, I find the reception room the guard was talking about slightly cracked, so I open the door the rest of the way and look in. Luna’s sitting in a chair and looking more formal than she does just around me, but less than she is when I’ve seen her with most visitors. Mom, dad, and Dew Drop are all sitting together on the couch in the room, all of them stiff as a board. Dew Drop’s levitating a cup of tea in front of her face but not drinking it, instead just staring at Luna like mom and dad are.

“I’m glad you could join us,” Luna announces as she turns her head to me. “I don’t quite think they know what to do when with a Princess,” she says softly as I walk in and settle into the empty chair next to her.

“I forgot you guys were coming,” I laugh to try and ease the tension in here right now. “Have you moved Dew Drop into school yet?”

“We’re moving her in tomorrow,” she nods, turning to look at me without fully taking her eyes off Luna. “We’re staying at a hotel tonight, and we figure we’d come here the day before so we can go do some things around Canterlot with you two.”

“A hotel?” Luna repeats. “You are the family of my personal student and one of my advisors, I shall put you up in the castle. Free of charge.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about us!” mom nervously giggles. “We already have a reservation, and we’re perfectly fine w—”

Luna holds up a hoof, and she immediately stops. “I insist. It wouldn’t be very hospitable if one of my advisors’ families were in town and I did not welcome them into the castle, would it?”

“Well, I…” Mom starts fidgeting her hooves together, almost as if she thinks it would be rude for her to admit that Luna could be rude. “I guess it would be. But, we already have a reservation…”

“I’m a Princess,” she points out with a smile. “I can cancel it for you. What are they going to do, say no to me?”

All three of them laugh, but it’s a very uneasy and nervous laugh. Man, Luna’s right: they really don’t know what to do around a Princess. I guess in fairness, it did take me a while before I realized she’s just a pony like the rest of us, just happened to be born into a certain family.

“Aurora,” she says, turning her head to me, “perhaps you would like to show them around the Dreamstrider wing? While you are doing that, I can get their things moved to their room and send somepony to cancel their reservation and provide them with a refund.”

“Come on,” I say as I hop out of my chair. I figure the quicker I can get them out of here, the less awkward for everypony it’ll be. They all carefully get up and bow, then walk towards the exit where I am, none of them truly taking their eyes off Luna the whole time. As we leave, Sveta’s eyes light up and she rushes past us into the room. I don’t think she was here when I entered, so she must have just gotten on duty. They all look at her when she walks by, so I guess they weren’t expecting to see a bat pony today, either. They always get really wide-eyed whenever I talk about what it is I do and what my regular days are like, so actually being here and seeing it first-hoof must be such a shock to them.

“You forgot to bow when we left,” mom scolds once we’re far away from the reception room. “She is a Princess, you need to remember that.”

“She tells me not to be formal around her because she hates it,” I laugh. “Besides, if I were to bow every time I saw her, I’d be almost permanently hunched over.”

“That’s no excuse not to be polite to her.”

“Violet,” dad laughs, “she’s fine. Princess Luna didn’t seem the slightest bit offended by it.”

“Just never forget who she is. She is a very important pony, and she meets with a lot of other very important ponies. You wouldn't want her thinking you’re rude, would you?”

“Fine,” I sigh. Luna’s not like mom thinks she is, but I just want her to stop getting mad at me. If only she knew what she was really like, she wouldn’t think that she needs to go the extra mile just to look respectful.

“What would the offices of somepony who works by sleeping look like, anyways?” Dew Drop wonders out loud once we get near the Dreamstrider wing. “Just a ton of beds side by side?”

“We’re almost there,” I tell her while taking a sip of my tea. “Dew Drop, are you moving in tomorrow?”

“Bright and early,” she groans. “We can start moving in at 9, so guess where we’re going to be at 9?”

“You don’t want to be moving into UEC during the big rush,” dad speaks up. “A big school in a big city? It’s going to be a madhouse whenever we go, but early is better. I moved into CU late my first year, and we waited at least a few hours just to get my keys. And it’s half the size of UEC, even.”

I look back at them for a moment, then just get confused. “Where’s all your stuff, Dew Drop?”

“Some Royal Guards just took them all when we got off the train platform, then escorted us here. My guess is Princess Luna heard we were coming and sent them to pick us up.”

That sounds like her. For all the times she says she doesn’t like drawing attention to herself, she sure does like surprises. Especially when it comes to helping ponies.

Before long, we get to the entrance to the Dreamstrider offices. Mom and dad just start staring at everything inside in awe, while Dew Drop is reading the plaque outside, looking confused while doing so.

“I’ve seen this before,” she says as she puts her hoof on it. I walk out to see what she’s talking about, and she looks down at me. “Looks like what you write in your diary.”

Her hoof is on the plaque, pointing at the demon inscription that reads Dreamstrider Wing. “Yeah,” I tell her. “It’s in demon.”

She studies it for a few moments longer, then takes her hoof off it and walks inside with the rest of us. I follow her inside, and dad’s looking at the nameplate on my desk while mom’s just watching the planets in the orrery slowly moving around. “So...is there anything you guys would like to do?” I ask them. Most of the time I’ve been in Canterlot, I’ve either been in school or working as a Dreamstrider. I don’t really know all the things to do in the city.

“We should go walk around campus and see where Dew Drop’s going to be spending a lot of time for the next few years,” mom suggests. “We never got a chance to get up here and do a campus visit while she was applying, and dad and I never did much around the campus besides walking to their stadium for the CU/UEC hoofball games. It’s not that hot out today, so it wouldn’t be very uncomfortable if we decided to do that.”

“Can we?” Dew Drop asks excitedly as she practically gets right up into mom’s face. “I’ve heard the campus is amazing! And I bet there won’t be a ton of ponies there, because it’s tomorrow that they all move in.”

“That sound good to you?” mom asks me after taking a few steps away from Dew Drop so they’re not muzzle to muzzle.

“I don’t get out and do much in Canterlot,” I admit, “so sure, it would be fun to do a little bit of exploring. Hopefully I’m going to be doing a lot with her while she’s here, so knowing how to get to where she is’ll be good.”

“Do you know how to get there?” she looks over at dad, who’s still just looking at my nameplate. “You did a lot more in Canterlot than I did, I mostly just know the area around campus.”

“I should still know,” he says after thinking it over for a few moments. “Even though it was about twelve million years ago we graduated.”

“Maybe when you graduated,” she teases. “I’m younger than you, it wasn’t nearly that long ago for me.”

He laughs. “You’re seven days younger than me.”

With a smile, she walks over to him and kisses him on the cheek. “All I heard was ‘You’re younger than me.’ Now come on, lead the way. And if you get lost, promise you’ll ask for directions this time? Not like Strawberry Seed’s graduation dinner?”

“It was her fault for holding it on the exact opposite side of town,” dad defends himself as he starts walking towards the door out. Mom sighs and starts following him, and Dew Drop and I both follow them out.

“Did you get lost or something?” I ask them.

“He refused to ask for directions to one of our very good friend’s graduation dinners,” mom glares at him. “We must have walked all over Canterlot nearly three times, and I was wearing some very nice shoes I had just bought that weren’t broken in yet. My hooves were still sore at graduation!”

“You’re not wearing any shoes right now,” he points out. “Just hooves.”

“Just get us there, okay?”

“At least now if we get lost, we don’t have to deal with her stepdad’s wrath,” he laughs. “That stallion got set off by anything.”

“I know it sounds terrible, but I’m glad her mom broke up with him.” She groans. “I went to her house over break a few times, and he was like that all the time. I felt so bad for her that night, she was absolutely mortified that he was digging into like us like he was. Said she almost told him not to come to her graduation, but didn’t want to start all that drama.”

Mom and dad keep talking about stuff that happened to them in college the rest of the way out of the castle, and once we’re in the streets of Canterlot, Dew Drop walks up next to them and starts asking about what there is to do in the city, leaving me walking behind them in silence. Oh well. I don’t really know Canterlot that well and I’m not going off to college, so it’s not like I’d have anything to add to the conversation anyways.

I just sort of start following them and looking all around us, not really paying attention to what they’re saying. As such, I just get confused when we come to a store with a big sign reading Clover Corner above the entrance and racks upon racks of green and gold clothes inside.

“Wait, why are we here?” I ask them as they all start walking up the steps into the store.

“I told you,” mom says, stopping halfway up and turning back around to face me. “Dew Drop doesn’t have any UEC clothing, so we’re going to buy her something, have her pick something out for us, and have you pick out something you like.”

“I’ll go look at stuff with her,” dad says, pulling her in very tightly. “Keep her shopping instincts from going into overdrive.”

“I’ll be fine,” she moans while trying to squirm out of his grip.

“You always wanted me to bring you so you could go shopping when you were a filly,” he reminds her. “It just took me a while to actually bring you, but let’s go!”

“Come on,” mom says through giggles at how dad’s acting with Dew Drop. “I know you don’t really like clothes shopping as much as your sisters, but I’m sure we can find something you like.”

We walk up the few steps and open the store door, and we’re immediately surrounded by more UEC clothes than I would think it’s possible to ever own. Dad and Dew Drop are in some back corner section looking at winter clothes.

“Is there anything specific you’d like?” mom asks me.

“I don’t know,” I shrug. “You know I don’t really wear clothes a lot.”

She thinks for a minute, then looks down at me. “You’ve never owned a hoodie, right?”

“A what?”

“Come on,” she beckons as she starts walking to the other half of the store than we’re in. Once we’re there, we go upstairs and to a long rack with rows of what looks like sweaters with hoods sewed on them.

“This is what a hoodie is,” she says, taking one off the rack and holding it in the air with her magic for me to see. It’s dark green, and there’s a big University of Equestria at Canterlot above some fancy gold lettering wrapping around a seal in the center of it.

Established 306 E.Q.
Semper Protinus

“It does look kind of nice.” I go up and feel the hoodie itself, and it feel super soft and warm. It’d be perfect for when it’s too warm for my winter jacket but too cold to not wear anything. “I think I saw the sign for youth sizes down at the end of this rack, so we should go there.”

“Let’s get you a mare’s size,” she says, looking at the tag to see what size the one she’s holding is. “Mare’s small might be a little big on you, but I want it to last. Snowy and Dew Drop were both wearing mare’s sizes by your age, so it’s just a matter of time before you shoot up and grow out of everything you own.” She takes the hoodie off the hanger it’s on, then hands it to me. “It’s a stallion’s small, but I want to see what it looks like on you.”

I sit down and put the clothing over me, and when I stand up, it feels almost like I’m wearing a dress. Almost, because while it doesn’t come down over my butt, it is very close to the base of my tail. The sleeves and neck are also super loose, reminding me of when I was little and would wear dad’s old sweaters to bed in the winter so I could stay warm.

“We definitely do need a mare’s size, then,” she laughs as I sit back down and take it off. “If the mare’s small isn’t much better, I guess we could go to a stallion’s extra small.”

She starts looking down the rack again and inspecting every tag she comes across, and before long, grabs another off its hanger and hands it to me. I put this one on, and while it is a little big, it’s not nearly as bad as the other one was. Especially if mom’s right and I’m going to hit a growth spurt soon, by the time I need it it’ll fit perfectly.

“Looks great,” she smiles. “Give it back and I’ll put it on the hanger, then we’ll go find out where dad and Dew Drop went off to.”

“Isn’t there like, a rivalry between UEC and where you and dad went to school?” I ask as I sit down and start taking it off.

“Canterlot University? A very big one,” she laughs. “Our teams have been playing hoofball against each other every season for over 700 years, and it’s not like our rivalry started there. Since both schools were made not very long after Canterlot was, we’ve both been trying to outdo each other for over two thousand years. Of course, if you ask me or dad, we’d both tell you that CU is better.”

I levitate the hoodie over to her, and she starts putting it back on the hanger. “Why are you sending Dew Drop to your rival school, then?”

“It’s still a very good school. And it’s the one that made her the happiest and most excited to go to, and that’s more important than any rivalry.” When she gets it back on the hanger, she drapes it over her back. “Come on, we should go find them now.”

As we start walking back towards the front of the store, I look up at her. I’ve just realized, I don’t know what she went to school for. “Hey, mom?”

“Hm?”

“What did you study at CU? I know dad was some math thing, but I don’t know what you did.”

“Dad was a family financial services major,” she clarifies. “I got my bachelor’s of social work. Most big cities want you to have a master’s before they let you become a social worker, but I didn’t have the money for a graduate degree, so I went to Coltlumbus because like many other small towns in Equestria, they need social workers so badly that they’re willing to accept ponies with just an undergraduate. Dad works for the government too and managed to convince them to put him there, so that’s how we ended up in Coltlumbus to start our family.”

“But you never got a master’s, right? Didn’t you just work?”

“Correct,” she nods. “After we got married and were both working for a few years, we made enough money for me to be able to go back to school. But as I was looking at programs, I found out I was pregnant with Snowy. Dad and I sat down and decided that our family was going to come first, so we decided to use the money we had saved to buy our house, one we felt we could raise a family in. And after I had Dew Drop, we decided having two foals and two full-time careers was too much for us. We looked at everything, and it was the better choice to have me leave my job instead of dad.”

“Do you ever miss working, or wish you could have gone back to school?”

“Of course,” she admits. “But then I remember that I was able to be there for your sisters and you when you were growing up, and I think that was more worth it to me than any money or promotions or degrees I could have gotten.” Her eyes start watering a little bit, and she reaches down to start stroking my mane. “They always do say nopony dies wishing they had spent more time at the office. We had to make some decisions that were very hard at the time, but we both agree that we made the right choice. I stopped working so I could be there to raise our foals, and even dad’s turned down promotions and transfers and the like because it wouldn’t be the best thing for our family.”

We get to the checkout counter, where dad is waiting in line with two shirts and a light jacket. Dew Drop is standing out of the line, reading a little brochure with the title ‘A New Student’s Guide to Canterlot’. Since Dew Drop looks busy, I walk up to dad with mom and look at what he’s got draped over his own back. “What did you and Dew Drop pick out?” I ask.

“She got a light jacket with the UEC logo on it, and she picked out a University of Equestria at Canterlot Dad shirt for me and a University of Equestria at Canterlot Mom shirt for mom.” His horn powers up, and he levitates the hoodie off mom’s back onto his. “What did you and mom pick out?”

“Hoodie,” mom says. “Don’t think she’s ever owned one, since they’re pretty much only popular for college apparel.”

“If you like it a lot, you get that from mom,” he laughs. “She practically lived in them the entire time we dated. More precisely, she lived in mine. Even though she owned plenty of her own.”

“Yeah,” she giggles, placing her head on his shoulder. “I liked them better. They smelled like you, so whenever I had one on I was reminded of you.”

Smelling like somepony sounds like a weird reason to wear their clothes. Besides that, what does dad even smell like? Dew Drop has a smell, but that’s just from her shampoo. I’d imagine that anypony using it would smell like she does. Dad doesn’t have a smell, but I guess that could just be me getting used to it and not recognizing it, kind of like how I don’t recognize our house’s smell until I come back after being away for a few months. Maybe it’s because I’m related to him and mom isn’t. I think I read somewhere that we’re more used to the way our relatives smell than the way other ponies do.

Before I realize it, the pony behind the counter is putting all our items in a big plastic bag and handing them to dad, who takes them in his magic before walking out of line and next to Dew Drop. “Ready to go?” he asks all of us.

“Yeah,” Dew Drop absent-mindedly responds, still looking at her brochure. Mom and dad both turn around and start walking out of the store, and I decide to stay back and walk with Dew Drop in case she isn’t paying attention and gets lost or something.

“Check it out,” she says, levitating the little booklet in front of my face not long after we exit the store.

I scan over the entire page and don’t find anything that really stands out to me. “I don’t really see anything.”

“It’s a list of all the free stuff that goes on around Canterlot all the time.” She takes the booklet back to her and starts reading. “Ooh, all the art galleries are free the first Friday of every month! We should go to that!”

I’ve never been to an art gallery or museum before, but that sounds like it could be fun. I’m really terrible at any art I try, but I always liked looking at different paintings and things like that.

I see her face light up as she turns the page, but because she doesn’t show or tell me anything, I assume it’s not something she’d find interesting.

Still, having my sister live in the same city as me for the next four years will be a lot of fun. I had pretty much accepted that I probably wouldn’t be living near them ever again, so this is a nice surprise. Even though she’s going to have all her school she’s busy with and I’ll have all my work, I’m sure we can find plenty of time to spend with each other.

Author's Note:

Happy New Year('s Eve), everybody!